‘I’ve covered wildfires and floods before and I’ve never seen anything like it. I’d see areas that were totally fine, but then get to Fountaingrove Inn and The Hilton and see them wiped-out. It was unbelievable.’

USPS district manager in San Francisco, Noemi Luna, said it showed the long standing relationship between postmen and their customers.

‘The carrier in question was honoring a request by a few customers who were being let back in the fire zone to retrieve personal items,’ she said.

‘A few customers asked the carrier to leave their mail if the mailbox was still standing because they could not get to the annex to retrieve it.’